The Michigan Model Partnership for Character Education is a partnership of the Michigan Department of Education and three local educational agencies. Each partner will be responsible for one of the major elements of the project.

The partnership seeks to develop character education curriculum for secondary schools as part of the nationally acclaimed Michigan Model for Comprehensive School Health Education. The elementary Michigan Model promotes core values of trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, caring, civic virtue/citizenship, and justice/fairness, which will also be promoted in the secondary modules. Teachers implementing the pilot curriculum will receive training designed according to principles of effective professional development, as well as consultation in adapting the curriculum for their individual students.

The partnership will conduct an outcome evaluation of the effectiveness of the curriculum when used in combination with school-wide initiatives to improve school climate, using a comparison group design. Results will be reported to the local communities, the state, and eventually to the national professional community in a research article submitted to a peer reviewed journal. Local school-community coalitions will receive intensive assistance from a School Climate Consultant to assess school climate, develop a plan to address local needs, implement strategies, and monitor progress using a School Climate Tool Kit developed under this proposal. Materials will be developed by Michigans Department of Education to disseminate electronic information about the activities of the partnership through the Character Education Web Page of the Web site maintained by the Educational Materials Center at Central Michigan University.